What is the digital divide, and what implications for. How to stop the digital divide that is happening in. Digital inclusion and sustainable development in nigeria. The digital divide in south africa is real michalsons. The very gap the country wished to arrogates through it. Towards bridging the digital divide in postapartheid. The global digital divide and the effects of technology use. The findings also revealed that the digital divide exposed nigerians to the dangers of youth restiveness. The gap between those who have access to digital technologies and those who do not. In this paper we take a look at the global digital divide.
Failure to take urgent action to close the digital divide and to use resources dedicated specifically to doing so will further widen the gulf between the digital haves and the digital havenots, undermining economic growth and stunting global development in the process. The digital divide can be understood as inequalities in four successive types of access. The content is being graded according to educational and appropriateness parameters. Despite a rather successful state policy for some two decades, the old state policies can no longer keep up with new designs of digital equipment. The paper focuses on bridging the digital divide that exists between the. Bridging the digital divide in nigeria white paper supported by the intel world ahead program, nigeria is moving to bridge the digital divide and increase opportunities for jobs, education and participation in the global economy. Digital divide is emphasized much on digital divide issues of hard work, technical infrastructure and connectivity loom large but these are not the only dimension of. Nigeria s youth population has also been significantly affected by the digital divide. Fong victoria university, melbourne, australia michelle.
Exploring the aspects of digital divide in a developing country. Exploring the aspects of digital divide in a developing. The digital divide, or the divisions in the global information and communications technologies icts market between developed and developing countries including lower middle. Digital inclusion digital inclusion is a set of public policies that relates to the installation, administration, expansion, creation and development of content on wired or wireless public networks in countries, regions and communities. The term digital divide refers to the widening gap between those with access to technology and those without. International journal of global business, 2 1, 181204, june 2009 182 this paper outlines the challenges, opportunities and potentials in the use of ict for education, research and development in nigeria. Digital inclusion and the role of mobile in nigeria. Nigerias digital divide refers to the inequality of nigerian individuals, groups, or organizations with regards to access to information and communications. Bridging the digital divide in the eu summary digital technologies play an important role in the everyday life of most europeans. Learn about nigerias challenges and achievements, and see what best practices are emerging from this. Twothirds of this total is made up by private consumption of internetrelated services and equipment, including smartphones. Facebook, for example, recently announced plans to use landbased and satellite technologies to provide better internet access to african countries. The content digital divide computers in entertainment.
Digital inclusion network, an online exchange on topics related to the digital divide and digital inclusion. The four digital divides massachusetts institute of. This paper discusses the gap created by an international digital divide in africa. The issue has sparked a major debate, with former president bill cinton calling it the chasm between the information haves and havenots. Digital divide is the gap that currently exists in the quality of access to icts between the. Digital skills for all 2 digital inclusion as a provider of the infrastructure for the digital age, huawei believes that as ict applications become easier to use, more convenient, and more affordable, they will greatly reduce global inequality, bridge the digital divide, and drive the rapid attainment of sdgs. Jul 31, 2007 read bridging the digital divide in nigeria. Expanding digital opportunity in new york city public schools. The digital divide and what to do about it eszter hargittai papersateszterdotcom sociology department princeton university this is a preprint version of the book chapter to appear in the new. In 2012, as part of its response to mobile digital divide. The global digital divide and the effects of technology use on educational outcomes robert w. Fairlie university of california, santa cruz prepared for adoption of ict enabled information systems for agricultural development workshop tokyo, japan august 24, 2008. As used here, the term digital divide refers to the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at different socioeconomic levels with regard both to their opportunities to access information and communication technologies icts and to their use of the internet for a.
Committee on technology in government, new york city council. Pdf the global nature of information and communications technology ict provides developing countries with a unique opportunity to compete in a. Nigerias digital divide refers to the inequality of nigerian individuals, groups, or organizations with regards to access to information and communications technology ict infrastructure or to the internet for municipal use within the nigerian community. Some have argued that the digital divide is not a useful concept from an analytical perspective. That gap, the new digital divide, puts at risk much more than just online shopping revenue. List of books and articles about digital divide online. This paper reports on a masters study undertaken to explore whether the electronic services initiated in postapartheid south africa by university of the western cape uwc library are perceived by primary stakeholders users and library staff as effective in bridging the digital divide. The web foundations gender gap audit 2016, based on research conducted in 10 countries including kenya, mozambique, ghana, uganda, nigeria and egypt in africa, also raised concerns about the gender digital divide. The private sector can help close the digital divide. Mar 08, 2017 the web foundations gender gap audit 2016, based on research conducted in 10 countries including kenya, mozambique, ghana, uganda, nigeria and egypt in africa, also raised concerns about the gender digital divide.
The survey report on internet development in rural china 2009, published by the china internet network information center last month april, is the fourth such annual report. Agreeably, the digital divide phenomenon pervades in every activity associated with the provision of library and information services in nigerian libraries. Digital divide is emphasized much on digital divide issues of hard work, technical infrastructure and connectivity loom large but these are not the only dimension of the digital divide. This project is currently being used globally with 152 officially participating schools in 27 countries plus registrations from about 80 countries. Impact of the digital divide on computer use and internet. Internet usage, poverty, lack of computer skills, and poor infrastructures were contributors to the digital divide. The word divide suggests a significant barrier, one on a massive scale and hard to shift as in continental divide or great divide. Turning africas digital divide into digital dividends. Digital divide other links a framework for digital divide. Digital divide and afghanistan muhammad aimal marjan the digital divide and its impact on the socioeconomic developmental outcomes of developing countries has in the last couple of years been a key development agenda at major international fora.
The digital divide encompasses differences in both access firstlevel digital divide and usage secondlevel digital divide of computers and the internet between 1 industrialized and developing countries global. But public investment and involvement will be necessary to reap the digital dividends. Request pdf bridging the digital divide in nigeria. Nigeria is the most populous country in africa and the seventh most populous country in the world. What is the digital divide, and what implications for society. Clearly, this gap is different in nature from the standard notion of digital divide that describes socioeconomic differences based on access to information technologies. Digital divide can be described as the information technology gap between developing and developed countries. White paper bridging the digital divide in nigeria collaborating to expand opportunities nigeria is one of the bright stars of subsaharan africa.
In dollar terms, africas igdp is estimated at usd 18. Although buying a computer or even a smart phone is out of the reach of many lowincome people, and there are still areas of the country that can access the internet only via dialup. The evolution of the digital divide universiteit twente. The impact of digital divide on elearning in nigeria journal of. This actually occurred in nigeria in 2012 as a part of its response to bridge mobile urbanrural digital divide 5. This technology can include the telephone, television, personal computers and the internet.
Yet some parts of the population are still excluded from using these new methods. The four digital divides the digital divide is widely regarded as a unitary phenomenon. Are some benefiting from a digital economy, while others are left behind or on the sidelines. Show full abstract income countries, tends to line up with the income divide. Digital divide, term that describes the uneven distribution of information and communication technologies icts in society. Ramification of the digital divide in south africa and its consequences.
How to stop the digital divide that is happening in nigeria. The second project utilizes an adaptation of the existing technology and focuses on the content digital divide. Instability has risen among the nigerian youth as they are overwhelmed by the capabilities and power of icts. A holistic look at information poverty and the regions digital divide. A refined understanding of the digital divide that emphasizes. Beijing despite recent rises in internet use, a wide digital divide still separates rural and urban china, according to a new report. Initially, concern over the digital divide centered on access to computers cost and the internet availability. Perspectives from an egovernment portal in nigeria. The nigerian digital divide signifies the disparity among individuals who. The term digital divide refers to the disparity in terms of access that has emerged. Illiteracy rates for young men and women are also very high in the rural and urban settlements. Sep, 2010 education is the single biggest problem that may be bigger than every other problem because solving the education problem for the masses will help solve a lot of other problems because an educated population will bring progress, alleviate poverty. Digital divide ict information communications technology. Well before the late 20th century, digital divide referred chiefly to the division between those with and without telephone access.
The evolution of the digital divide the digital divide turns to inequality of skills and usage jan a. The digital divide encompasses differences in both access firstlevel digital divide and usage secondlevel digital divide of computers and the internet between 1. In this paper we take a look at the global digital divide concerning africa, we analyze the situation with the help of macrodata and by discussing specific examples ghana, south africa. Indeed, the earliest itu statistics on telecommunications published in 1871, recording data on tel egraph operations since 1849 show a. Many proposals are currently being discussed within the government and the telecommunications industry itself for future development. The main aim of this paper is to explore the digital divide in a developing country, turkey, and to highlight some approaches to bridge it. Public expenditure on the internet including digitization of education and health services currently amounts to only usd 2 billion. Clearly, the metaphor of a digital divide that became very popular in the last years of the 1990s in the united states, with comparable designations in other languages and other countries, is a simplification of the phenomenon of inequality of access to digital technologies.
The digital divide, ict, and broadband internet ict information communications technologies. Separate one page or a whole set for easy conversion into independent pdf files. Improving internet access in the developing world through affordable services and diverse content by darrell m. Introduction equitable access to information is an essential principle in a global information economy. As used here, the term digital divide refers to the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at different socioeconomic levels with regard both to their opportunities to access information and communication technologies icts. The continents most populous country, nigeria has rich oil reserves, a growing middle class, a young democracy and a youthful population. However, for the sake of this current study, emphasis would be on digital divide existing between urban and rural settlers, in respect of their accessibility to information in today digital age.
Digital divide other links a framework for digital. The digital divide, or the digital split, is a social issue referring to the differing amount of information between those who have access to the internet specially broadband access and those who do not have access. The authors outlined measures needed to address the digital divide problem in nigerian libraries. What is the digital divide, and what implications for society and the individual are seen to arise from this. Education is the single biggest problem that may be bigger than every other problem because solving the education problem for the masses will help solve a lot of other problems because an educated population will bring progress, alleviate poverty. It stated that, without a major escalation of policy effort and investment, most of the benefits of technological change. The paper focuses on bridging the digital divide that exists between the developed countries and africa. Digital divide in south africa free download as powerpoint presentation. The global digital divide and the effects of technology. The digital divide is a phenomenon linked not only to the topic of access to the internet, but also to the one of usage and usage benefit. South africa started the development of a local telecommunications industry in 1958. A study of internet use in calabar metropolis, nigeria purpose the paper aims to. Profiles of innovators and leaders who make a difference pdf.
Digital divide is a term that refers to the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology, and those that dont or have restricted access. Nevertheless, for retailers, it poses a serious threat to overall. In this paper we take a look at the global digital divide concerning africa, we analyze the situation with the help of macrodata and by. Exploring digital divide in mobile phone ownership.